In Washed-Up Economy, Governor Defends Plan for Anglers' Paradise

By

Alex Roth and

Paulo Prada

Updated Jan. 5, 2009 12:01 a.m. ET

ATLANTA -- There were snickers across the state when Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue announced a major plank of his economic development strategy: a $19 million project to make the state the most popular fishing destination in the country.

Rolling eyes turned to open criticism when the state issued bonds between 2007 and 2008 to fund the plan. The economy was souring, a drought was dropping lake levels to historic lows, and the governor was preparing to slash billions from other programs to cover a gaping budget shortfall. A November editorial in the Rome News-Tribune, a northwest Georgia daily, compared Mr. Perdue's decision to proceed with his "Go Fish" agenda amid the economic downturn to Marie Antoinette and the suggestion attributed to her that hungry French peasants eat cake.

Georgia Goes Fishing Despite Hurdles

Despite mounting criticism, economic and budget woes and parched lakes, Georgia's governor is proceeding with a $19 million dollar plan aimed at making the state the most popular fishing destination in the country.

The plan, the newspaper said, "betrays a level of stupidity, and general insensitivity."

Unswayed, the administration recently began construction on a $14 million "Go Fish Georgia Center," featuring a fish hatchery, visitor's center, and public fishing ponds about 12 miles from Mr. Perdue's hometown of Bonaire. The 15,000-square-foot building will feature interactive exhibits, including fishing simulators where visitors in a fake boat can struggle against computer-controlled fish. Outside, a wooden path will lead visitors through simulated Georgia topography -- from mountains to piedmont to swampland -- as trout, bass and bream swim in aquariums and pools along the way.

Georgia officials claim fishing already generates $1 billion dollar a year and nearly 17,000 jobs in Georgia. They note that the world record for the biggest largemouth bass ever caught -- 22 pounds, 4 ounces -- was set in 1932 on a Georgia lake. Still, the state has never become a major center of fishing. The two biggest pro fishing tournaments, the FLW Outdoors Forrest Wood Cup and ESPN's Bassmaster Classic, had long snubbed Georgia.

Mr. Perdue says the Go Fish initiative will change all that. Making Georgia a "fisherman's paradise" is at the top of the political agenda for his last term. In addition to $5 million in state funds to erect new ramps and docks -- designed for the biggest and most advanced fishing boats on 18 lakes -- the governor has secured matching funds from local officials, too.

On Dec. 16, Gov. Perdue convened a triumphant news conference: the Forrest Wood Cup had finally chosen Georgia's Lake Lanier as the site for the 2010 competition. The governor said the tournament, featuring 156 professional and amateur fisherman competing over four days to catch the largest aggregate weight of fish, will generate a $30 million economic impact. Much of that will come from the tens of thousands of spectators expected to attend as well as valuable television exposure.

In an interview, Mr. Perdue said professional fishing could take off like Nascar has over the past two decades -- referring to the professional racing circuit that exploded from southern rural roots into an industry that draws hundreds of thousands of spectators.

"Some have laughed at Go Fish, some even in the media have laughed at this program," Mr. Perdue said during the December news conference. "This is the first example of Georgia having the last laugh." Television broadcasts of the tournament also will provide a boost to tourism, he said. "The exposure," the governor noted, "is incalculable."

Jerry McCollum, president and chief executive of the Georgia Wildlife Federation, said landing the Forrest Wood Cup vindicates the Go Fish proponents. "It doesn't look much like a joke now, does it?" he said.

The governor -- who fondly recalls a childhood in which his grandfather took him fishing with a cane pole along the banks of Big Indian Creek in Middle Georgia -- said critics must not be fishermen. "They haven't seen a kid's eyes light up when he catches his first fish."

Others aren't so nostalgic. Last month, the Georgia Department of Veterans Services was forced by budget problems to close a housing unit for 81 sick or disabled veterans in the town of Milledgeville. "It's a shame that our veterans are being displaced so we can catch some fish," said Fae Casper, a retired Army sergeant who heads the Georgia chapter of the American Legion. "Revenue is important, but taking care of the people that allow us to be free is, to me, more important."

ENLARGE

Largemouth bass

The state Department of Education, like other state agencies, is examining how it will reduce at least 6% of its $8.2 billion budget for the rest of the fiscal year, which ends in June.

"It really makes you question the state's priorities," said Phyllis Edwards, superintendent of the City Schools of Decatur, a seven-school system just east of Atlanta. Because of cuts that by 2010 could take as much as $2 million from a current budget of $37 million, the school may have to terminate a Spanish program for elementary students and the five teachers who staff it.

It's also unclear just how much fishing tournaments can boost the Georgia economy. The American Sportfishing Association concedes that most of the annual economic impact on the state comes from purchases of normal boats and other everyday fishing that doesn't require the big new ramps under construction.

Some fishermen worry that falling water levels are exposing sunken terrain and obstructions that may make the state's lakes too dangerous for visiting anglers. "There's a lot of things you could hit if you don't know where you're going," said Bill Vanderford, who runs the oldest freshwater fishing-guide service in the state and is an inductee of the national Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame.

Mr. Perdue, a veterinarian by training, is impatient with all the criticism of Go Fish. The funds were allocated before the current crisis began and the proceeds of the bonds already sold can't legally be redirected to other purposes, he said. The construction activity also will generate jobs.

Mr. Perdue acknowledges that Georgia lakes are best known these days for dry, cracked moonscape banks, where water has receded in some cases by hundreds of feet as a result of the drought. As governor, Mr. Perdue has aggressively pushed for less water to be released for use in other states. In 2007, he also hosted a group of public and religious leaders to pray for rain on the marble steps of the state capitol, in Atlanta.

Still, Lake Lanier, site of the planned big tournament, remains more than 17 feet lower than normal, and Georgia is locked in a bitter court fight with the states of Florida and Alabama over how much water can be drawn from the lake for public consumption.

The governor says even if the lakes stay low, that will make it easier to get to the fish. "Would you rather catch a big fish in your bathtub," Mr. Perdue recently asked reporters at a news conference, "or your swimming pool?"

This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com.